Only three days worth of work for this wrap-up of Inktober 2017. I’m proud to say that this year (my second year of participation) I made it through every day with a new illustration every day! I think my wrap-up is pretty strong here too… The Phantom of the Opera is based on the Universal Monster classic. The Leprechaun is the creepy scary one from the movies of the same name. Last, but not least, the female zombie is a non-specific zombie of the type you might see in George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead or Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead.

Please let me know what you think and remember, if you’d like an original commission by me or would like to hire me as an Illustrator, please use the Contact page and let me know as much as you can about your request.

I’ve been a little lazy about posting on the blog, and maintaining my comic strips lately, but I have been busy with Inktober at least! For the fourth week in Inktober 2017, I continued making new 2.5×3.5-in. sketch cards. Check out the Troy Library Mini-Con, Week One, Week Two, and Week Three posts to see all of the previous work I’ve done so far this year for Inktober. Also remember to visit the Inktober Web site to learn more about the concept.

Inktober Week Four:

The Wolfman

Dracula

The Mummy

The Invisible Man

Leatherface

Jigsaw

Elvira

So, I started off this week with more Universal Monsters inspired cards: The Wolfman, Dracula, the Mummy, and the Invisible Man. Of this group I feel like the Mummy most resembles Boris Karloff as it should. The others are close, and Dracula is good, but I only feel like I nailed the Mummy like I wanted. I finished up the week with some more modern scary folk: Leatherface, Jigsaw, and Elvira. I’m happiest with Jigsaw and Leatherface. Elvira feels more like I drew an attractive woman cosplaying as Elvira and less like the true Cassandra Peterson version. Still, all told, I’m pleased with my efforts this week. Just a few more days to go and I can say I made it through the month intact and surpassed my inaugural effort last year! Stay tuned…

Please let me know what you think and remember, if you’d like an original commission by me or would like to hire me as an Illustrator, please use the Contact page and let me know as much as you can about your request.

For the third week in Inktober 2017, I continued making new 2.5×3.5-in. sketch cards. Check out the Troy Library Mini-Con, Week One, and Week Two posts to see all of the previous work I’ve done so for this year for Inktober. Also remember to visit the Inktober Web site to learn more about the concept.

Inktober Week Three:

Pinhead

Frankenstein’s Monster

Pennywise

Creature from the Black Lagoon

Bride of Frankenstein

Chucky

The Tall Man

This was another fun week. Pinhead (from Hellraiser) and Pennywise (from IT) might be my favorites this week… but I like pretty much all of them. I grew up on the classic Universal Monsters, so it was fun to do Frankenstein’s Monster, his bride, and the Creature… and then rounding out the week with Chucky (from Child’s Play) and the Tall Man (from Phantasm) made for a nice week of all horror-themed Inktober sketch cards. So far I’ve done a lot more horror cards this year than I did last year, which seems appropriate as we creep closer to Halloween! 🙂

Please let me know what you think and remember, if you’d like an original commission by me or would like to hire me as an Illustrator, please use the Contact page and let me know as much as you can about your request.

Continuing with the second week of Inktober, I stuck to producing a new 2.5-3.5-in. sketch card every day. Check out the Troy Library Mini-Con and Week One posts to see what kicked off the month, and remember to visit the Inktober Web site to learn more about the concept.

Inktober Week Two:

Minimalism

Robot

Cyclops

EC Vault-Keeper

EC Crypt-Keeper

EC Old Witch

Jason Voorhees

I had fun this week, kicking things off with an experiment in minimalism that I think worked even though it was not what I imagined originally drawing. If I had to pick a single favorite card this week, it would be the Cyclops. That one just works in pretty much every way how I wanted it to work. But, I’m especially pleased with my trio set of EC classic host character sketch cards. I am a long-time fan of the classic EC horror comics and I tried to do those in a style appropriate for how they used to appear in the comics back in the 1950s. Those three were also the highlight of my Facebook likes during the week as I posted them, so I must have done something right 🙂 Rounded off the week with a Jason Voorhees card in honor of the Friday the 13th that we had this week.

Please let me know what you think and remember, if you’d like an original commission by me or would like to hire me as an Illustrator, please use the Contact page and let me know as much as you can about your request.

Inktober is a thing, in October, started by Jake Parker back in 2009. It has grown over the years but the core concept is to complete and share one ink drawing per day for the entire month. I’ll skip the detailed history and origins and leave it to you to visit the Inktober Web site for yourself as he covers it pretty well there on his site. I participated last year, though I didn’t quite make it to the end. I hope to make it the whole way this year!

My first two days of Inktober were Flash illustrations that I donated to the Troy Library Mini-Con fundraising efforts. Please checkout yesterday’s post for more information about that convention and to see the first two Inktober illustrations. Below are the drawings from day three to day seven:

Inktober 2017 Week One (Days 3-7)

Plastic Man

Calvin

Hobbes

Monster

Another Monster

On day one I did a larger sketch, but everything else has been 2.5-3.5-in. sketch card illustrations. I enjoyed drawing Plastic Man, because he can be drawn as anything… you basically can’t draw him incorrectly! 🙂 I was a big fan of Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes comic strip back in the day, so those were fun too. I think my favorites this week, though, might be the two random monsters I drew. I drew those without any reference, so their origin is somewhere deep in my own warped mind.

Please let me know what you think and remember, if you’d like an original commission by me or would like to hire me as an Illustrator, please use the Contact page and let me know as much as you can about your request.

Just like last year, I’m participating in Inktober again this year… trying to draw at least one new hand-drawn illustration each day. Last year I didn’t quite make it to the end, but I hope to actually complete 31 illustrations this year. Time will tell. Be sure to checkout the Inktober Web site if you want to find out more of what this is all about. I have been posting daily to Facebook and will be posting weekend summaries on the blog like I did last year every Sunday to collect all of the week’s creations.

For now, though, I would like to call your attention to the Troy Library Mini-Con, which takes place on October 14th (one week from today) in Troy, NC. The convention is being held at the Montgomery County Library, located on 215 W Main St in Troy and runs from noon until 5:00pm. There will be lots of free comics, cosplay, trivia, dealers, guest artists, and pretty much everything you expect from a comic convention! Also, there will be a raffle as part of a fundraising effort to raise money for Rod Haase and his battle with cancer. Rod is an actor who has been in many things, but comic fans of the 1970s might remember him from the Legends of the Superheroes on TV where he was the first live-action Flash!

Please checkout the Troy Library Mini-Con page on Facebook for further information and updates about the convention. Also, please visit Rod Haase’s GoFundMe page if you aren’t going to be able to attend this convention but still would like to contribute to helping him with his expenses. For my part, I am unable to attend this convention in person but I did donate my first two days of Inktober sketches to the cause, so if you want to own the original art for either of these pieces shown below you will need to attend the show next Saturday!

The first illustration is on 9×12-in. Canson 98-lb paper and is a portrait of the Flash inspired by Rod Haase’s original portrayal on TV from 1979. The second illustration is a 2.5×3.5-in. personal sketch card of the Flash in motion. I have signed both sketches on the reverse side and included a link to my blog in hopes that whomever wins these at the convention will visit here and say hello. I hope everyone who attends the convention has a good time next weekend!

Just found out early last week that I’m going to be a guest at the upcoming Raleigh Comic Book Show, next Sunday! As always, I am looking forward to seeing show runner Lyn Anderson and all the great dealers and convention regulars who attend these shows. Other planned guests at this show are Buddy Prince, who is a solid artist, good guy, and another Raleigh show regular… and Dan Johnson, whom I have not yet met but am looking forward to seeing for the first time!

I will again have original art and sketch cards for sale, including a bunch of new sketch cards from last Inktober that I drew after my last convention appearance. I’ll also have lots of glossy prints of a bunch of illustrations that I’ve drawn over the last few years. Time permitting, I might even be able to do some commission sketch cards or head/bust sketches during the show too. I’m getting ready for the show this week, so I could even surprise myself with new things I don’t yet know I’ll be bringing!

I hope to see lots of Facebook and blog followers at the show… and I promise to try and warp your brain with my nonsense while you’re there. 🙂 If you’re anywhere near Raleigh, NC next week you really ought to stop by the show… you will not be disappointed! For those who can’t attend, I will be blogging about the experience sometime next Sunday night as I normally do after these shows.

So, there were three more days left in Inktober after the fourth week. I flamed out during the stretch run and only made one more drawing, so I fell two drawings short of the goal. Still, I don’t feel too badly since I was quite happy with how many of my sketch cards turned out and that I still completed twenty-nine drawings in as many days!

At least I went out with a bang! I was pretty proud of this Freddy Krueger, and as it was the only one I did in the final half-week, it is obviously my favorite of that leg of the journey. 🙂 The original Nightmare on Elm Street is a classic by Wes Craven.

Please let me know what you think and remember, if you’d like an original commission by me or would like to hire me as an Illustrator, please use the Contact page and let me know as much as you can about your request.

The fourth week of Inktober brought more daily drawings to collect for the blog. See my previous posts this month for Week One, Week Two, and Week Three contributions. Also, don’t forget to checkout the Inktober Web site to learn more about the concept.

For Week Four, I continued with the 2.5 x 3.5 inch personal sketch card sized illustrations.

Inktober 2016 Week Four:

Daredevil

Jack O’Lantern

Doctor Strange

Jack Skellington

Ghostface

Scarecrow

Michael Myers

This week is harder for me to pick a favorite, because I like how many of these turned out. I guess if I have to pick, I’d go with Jack Skellington. I quite like my Ghostface and Scarecrow, though… and Michael Myers to end the week turned out pretty good also.

Please let me know what you think and remember, if you’d like an original commission by me or would like to hire me as an Illustrator, please use the Contact page and let me know as much as you can about your request.

Finally, posting in the present tense! We come to the third week of Inktober, and more of my daily drawings to post. Check out what I did for Week One and Week Two, or visit the Inktober Web site to learn more about the concept.

This week’s personal favorite? Hot Stuff! I also like my Morbius and Count Orlock. I did a little series there for several days of classic Harvey Comics characters, because I loved reading those comics as a kid! I also love the classic Nosferatu film, featuring Max Schreck as the creepiest vampire ever filmed! My Warrior Woman was going to be a proper Wonder Woman, but I drew her too large and had no room for specific costume details that would have made her more easily recognizable.

Please let me know what you think and remember, if you’d like an original commission by me or would like to hire me as an Illustrator, please use the Contact page and let me know as much as you can about your request.